Tooth-brush.



C. E. CARROLL.

TOOTH BRUSH.

APPLIOATIDK rum) MAY 27, 1913.

Patented Mar.30,1915.

INVENTOR GHARLESE CARROLL IiTTORNEfS E STES E CHARLES E. CARROLL, 0F NEWPORT, ARKANSAS.

To all whom it muy concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. CARROLL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newport, in the county of Jackson vention of diseases of the gums. Such diseases usually attack the gums at points subjected to comparatively little friction of mastication and where the ordinary toothbrush is not effective for rubbing or massaging. Food and other foreign substances tend to lodge within the. free marginofthe gums at such points and cause at first a slight irritation, but when allowed to remain, inflammation may set in and certain chemical changes maytake place, thus forming the hard scale known as tartar, which adheres to the neck of the tooth and becomes a permanent irritant to the gums. If the irritation be sufliciently prolonged, an ulcer ated condition may result leading to destruction of the gums and the consequent loss of the teeth. It is therefore eminently desirable to provide a brush adapted to prevent such lodgment of foreign substances within the free margin of the gums, and to this end I have devised the brush hereinafter described and claimed.

The details of construction are illustrated in the accompanying. drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the brush, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the head thereof.

The hehd a is curved so that it is apprmfimately semicircular in form and it is at tached at the middle ofits length to a handle b and arranged in a plane at right angles thereto. There are three groups of tufts of bristles, indicated, respectively, by letters a, d, and e. The tufts c are comparatively short and occupy the central portion of the brush-head a. The bristles d, which are adjacent laterally to the bristles 0, are

considerably longer, an

points or edges are cut ofl on they are almost parallel. The next or outer bristles e are preferably slightly shorter than the bristles d. The working ends of their opposite the outer bristles 'e are cut of? upon a .slight curve and at a considerable angle with the adj acent bristles (2, so that said bristles e are Specification of Letters Patent. L

Application filed May 27,

a slope so that TOOTH-BRUSH.

' Patented Mar. 30, 1915. 191a Serial No. 770,113.

adapted to work upon the gums, and massaging them, while the other bristles work on the teeth alone.

It will be seen, particularly by observation of Fig. 2, that the bristles 0, cl, and e are so located and inclined as to be practically concentric, the central ones being so located as towork on the biting surfaces of the teeth, while the laterally adjacent bristles d are so arranged as tostrike the surface'of the teeth at an angle and to readily enter the free margin of the gum at a point between their inclined outer ends, while the outermost lateral bristles 6 Work upon the lower portions of the gums, thus massaging and cleaning them. My improved brush is thus entirely effective for the object aimed at, namely, for the removal of foreign substances and the massaging of the gums at the point where it is most necessary to the end in view. I 1

To sum up the matter, it may be said that by the arrangement of the tufts of bristles, the gums are massaged and their freemargins are cleaned during the ordinary operation of brushing the teeth; also, that by the specific and described arrangement and an gles of the tufts of bristles to each other and to the teeth, the roots of the latter and the adjacent portions of the gums are thoroughly scrubbed. Further, the tufts of bristles being of different lengths and the lateral ones bemg cut across angularly at their free ends, they pass over the teeth in such way as to protect the larger ones from undue frlctlon and at the same time thoroughly clean the smaller ones.

I claim The improved tooth-brush havmg an approximately semi-circular head and provided with tufts of bristles projecting 1nwardly toward each other and also downwardly, the outer ends of those tufts WhlCh are located. at the extremities of the head being out off upon a slight curve and at an angle to the working ends of the ad acent bristles, whereby they are adapted for cleaning and" massaging the gums, while the other bristles work on the teeth, as shown and described.

CHARLES E. CARROLL.

Witnesses:

C. W. Srmoo, CLAY Cmnns.

cleaning 

